Chilaquiles
Ingredients
- 8 corn tortillas, cut into strips
- oil... and lots of it
- 400g fresh tomatos, finely chopped
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 hot chillies, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon marjoram
- 250 mL chicken stock
- 150g grated cheese
- 250 mL creme fraiche / soured cream
- 1/4 cup fresh corriander, chopped
- salt and pepper
Method
In batches, fry the chopped tortillas until they are golden, but not yet crisp. Allow to drain on paper towels.
Pour out most of the oil from the pan and fry the onion and chillies for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato, marjoram, stock, salt and pepper and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly - about 5 to 10 minutes.
Place the fried tortilla strips on top of the sauce and press down lightly. Sprinkle cheese over. Cover the pan and simmer until the cheese melts - about 5 minutes.
Spoon creme fraiche over the top and sprinkle on corriander. Serve.
Aside: Soured Cream
To make soured cream, add a few drops of lemon juice to double cream and stir in with a fork. Yes, this really does work!
Chilli con Carne
Ingredients
- 2, 3 or 4 (depending on how hot you like it!) chilli peppers, deseeded and chopped
- 500g minced beef, frozen
- 450g tin of chopped tomatos
- 450g tin of red kidney beans, drained
- 1 capsicum (any colour, or a mixture), chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- small handful of coursely chopped corriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 clove of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon dried ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- salt
- gravy powder
- oil
Method
Fry the onion, capsicum and cumin until the onion is transparent. Add beef and cook until brown, stirring occasionally. Add the kidney beans, herbs and spices and tomatos. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Thicken with gravy powder and simmer for a further 5 to 10 minutes.
Serve with rice and/or tortilla chips.
Nachos
Ingredients
- chilli con carne or vegitarian chilli
- 300g tortilla chips
- 150-200g grated medium chedder
- 2 chopped green chilli peppers
- 6 chopped spring onions
- 6 chopped cherry tomatos
- 3 tablespoons soured cream
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- Fresh corriander, torn roughly
Guacamole
- 1 large avocado
- 2 tablespoons of soured cream
- 30g grated chedder
- juice of half a lime (equivalent amount of lemon juice will do)
- salt and chilli powder
Method
Preheat an oven to 180oC.
Cover the bottom of a large casserole dish with tortilla chips (about 120g worth). Sprinkle about 80g of grated cheese over the top. Now pour on the prepared chilli, while still hot. Layer the remaining tortilla chips and cheese over the top and place in the oven for about 10 minutes.
Mash the flesh of the avocado in a bowl using a fork. Pour in soured cream, cheese, garlic, lime juice, salt and chilli powder and stir thoroughly. The guacamole should be mildly spicy. In another bowl, mix the soured cream and chives together.
Take the nachos out of the oven and spoon the guacamole over the top. On top of this, pour the sour cream mixture. Garnish with the chopped spring onions, cherry tomatos, chilli and corriander.
Empanadas
Empanadas are the Mexican equivalent of the Cornish Pasty. Fill with any flavoursome tex-mex-style filling, such as Chilli Con Carne, Refried Beans, Corned Beef Hash or the potato filling below.
Ingredients
Pastry
- 250g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup of vegetable oil (yes you, read right... 1/2 a cup!)
- 1/2 cup of cold water
- 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
Suggested Filling
- 500g old potatos, peeled, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 4 tablespoons of butter
- 1 small onion
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of chilli seeds (dried)
- 1 teaspoon of salt
Method
Now, sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the oil and mix thoroughly into a pastry-like mixture. Add the water. The dough will be quite wet, like pizza dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside for at least 30 minutes. Now might be a good time to prepare the filling.
To make the suggested filling, parboil the potatos until they are tender and then drain well. Fry the onion in the butter for about 3 minutes. Add the potatos, cumin, paprika, chilli seeds, salt and pepper. Stir to coarsely mash the potato until lightly browned.
Divide the dough into 12 equally-sized balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball flat (and round) with a rolling pin and place 2 tablespoons of the filling in the middle. Moisten the outer edge with a little water and then fold the dough over into a half-moon shape. Press the edges down with a wet fork to seal.
Place the empanadas on a baking tray. Brush them with the egg yolk and water glaze. Bake in an oven preheated to 215oC until lightly browned or for about 20 to 25 minutes.